Lynda Marston – Master Wax Chandler. 9.45-10.15, Opening address

Lynda is a proud Maid of Kent being born and educated in Rochester. She studied Physiology and Biochemistry at Southampton University, and following her degree, she worked at the National Institute for Medical Research and then Glaxo. When she married a few years after Uni, she moved to Buckinghamshire and now lives in a small village in the Hambleden valley between Marlow and Henley on Thames.
Emeritus Prof. Stephen Martin: 10.15-11.15 ,Science of varroa resistance (BDI sponsored)

Since the arrival of the varroa mite from Asia, millions of honey bee colonies have died. For decades, beekeepers have continued to control Varroa populations by the use of chemicals and other invasive methods. However, throughout Africa and most of South and Central America mite-infested colonies survive without any form of mite-control for decades. Throughout, Europe, UK and the USA an increasing number of naturally evolved, mite-tolerant colonies are being discovered and managed by beekeepers. We know have a good understanding of the underlying mechanism of varroa resistance in these populations, which is leading to the reappearance of sustainable free-living populations and a decreasing number of UK beekeepers using chemical miticides to control the varroa mite. The talk will provide the most up to date information about varroa resistance honeybees and how to promote them that will help inform beekeepers wanting to keep varroa-resistant honey bees or reduce their chemical input into their colonies.

Martin Benscik: 11.45-12.45 Vibrations within a hive

Martin Bencsik is physicist originally involved in Magnetic Resonance Imaging, a field of science he has retired from to focus on the vibrations emanating from honeybees. In 2011 he pioneered the use of accelerometers in the exploration of the vibrational landscape emanating from individual honeybees, and from the entire colony. This has opened up many exciting discoveries, which Martin will talk you through, and he will expand on his latest work involving the vibrational response of the colony to providing it with a ‘knock’ on the outside of the hive.
Christine Coulsting: 13.30-14.30, Making the most of inspections

Christine started beekeeping in 2011, and manages approximately 20 colonies in 4 apiaries all sited on farmland around her village in the beautiful Test Valley in Hampshire.
Always keen to learn, she worked her way through the BBKA exam system and achieved Master Beekeeper in 2019. Christine is an examiner, assessor and correspondence tutor for the BBKA and enjoys passing on her love of bees and beekeeping. She is a speaker on a number of beekeeping topics and wrote the ‘In the Apiary’ articles for Beecraft magazine in 2022.
The talk explores the ins and outs of our routine inspections. Why, when, how often do we need to inspect? What observations do we need to record, what we can learn from the experience and how to develop our beekeeping skills and start reading the bees.
Stephen Fleming: 15.45-16.45, The magic and mystery of drone congregation areas

Stephen Fleming is co-editor of BeeCraft and has been keeping bees for three decades on Watership Down in northern Hampshire. Early on, he heard about drone congregation areas (DCAs) – where honey bee males gather in the hope of mating with a queen – and, as someone fascinated by landscapes, he was intrigued. Eight years ago, he acquired the necessary equipment to find DCAs and since then tries to escape work on sunny summer afternoons in search of DCAs and has now mapped many in his local area. He has also rediscovered the first documented DCA on Selborne Common, reported by Rev Gilbert White more than 200 years ago, has turned up some surprises on the Isles of Scilly and tested the legendary Glastonbury Tor. The rather poor summer of 2024, when there seemed to be fewer drones on the wing than usual, eventually revealed one of his most intriguing discoveries yet. Although still somewhat bemused by the mysteries of DCAs, he will explain how he finds them, ideas that may explain their locations, what they can tell us about honey bee mating, and the joys of searching for them.